Tim,
I use to think that crusing was for seniors or parents with kids that they needed babysat. I changed my mind a few years ago when I took a 14 day cruise from Barcelona to Italy, Greece, and Turkey. It was actually fun and we met some great people who we still keep in contact with. We chose independent shore excursions except for Ephesus (sp) in Turkey. Glad we did. The room was great with a balcony, food was pretty good, entertainment was ok, but the highlight was just sitting on balcony at sunset and in the morning for sunrise on the ocean. We even had excitement when he Captain gunned the ship at dinner time (we were in the rear of the boat) as a major flood was about to hit Istanbul. It was a memorable moment as we all looked at each other thinking we were aboard the Titanic. The pools emptied, glasses fell to the floor and it was one rocky dinner.

I will say while we enjoyed it, we have not been on one since. Why? It was expensive! We can take 4-5 trips for the same price. So that’s my 2 cents